by which we pacify with euphemism
our planned transgressions,
boundaries shifting convenience
into correct countriesis the language by which we pun on pleasure,
pour into our mouths the here-and-now,
an alphabet of aftertaste sour on our tonguesis the two dead children alive
again for the ten seconds it takes to read
in newsprint the absence of their breatha mistake of transposition,
a column of patient charts
switched like typosdread is the language
by which the Downs Syndrome girl,
unnamed but not unwritten,
is not the one aborted
firstdisguise is the deed that makes the dead
the correction, that stacks together
the specious: the mis-filed, the not-
chosen, the accidentally-left-
for, inconveniently worded, dead.
You have a decision to make: double or nothing.
For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.
In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.
So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?
Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.
